The Red and Black

Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: Variety

ALDRIDGE

McCASKILL

This weekend, the Institute for African American Studies will present a three-day symposium honoring the civil rights movement and what work is still being done in the area of civil rights and social issues.

"[The symposium will] highlight civil rights activism in Georgia and across the United States," said Derrick Alridge, director of the Institute for African American Studies. "We want to look beyond [the civil rights movement] and look at civil rights issues globally and in the present."

The symposium will start off with a writing workshop for elementary school students from Athens-Clarke County led by poets and writers from the University Creative Writing Program.

"It's so much fun to work with young writers," Ashley David, a PhD student from the University Creative Writing Program, said. "They'll get to imagine onto the page with facilitation by graduate students."

The symposium will also end with a selected group of these elementary school students reading their work alongside nationally recognized poets during the closing event at Ciné.

David looks forward to the symposium because attendees will hear from people who have helped change the world to how it is today.

"It will discuss what has grown out of the civil rights movement and will discuss what issues are still being faced today," David said.

There will also be several panel discussions during the symposium.

Barbara McCaskill, an associate English professor at the University, will be a moderator for a panel discussion with southwest Georgia activists.

Panelists include people who played significant roles in framing and carrying out the Albany and Americus Movements in the early 1960s. The panel will discuss their memories and how their work has continued into the 21st century.

"All four [panelists] will be able to talk about the central role that high school and college-aged youth like them played in pressing for social change in their communities," McCaskill said. "These activists exemplify how your age need not impede the goal of making a difference and doing good in your community wherever you live, whatever you do, and in your lifetime."

Associate history professor Chana Kai Lee will participate in another panel discussion that will talk about civil rights across generations.

"We will start with a dialogue about what the movement achieved and then focus on contemporary problems that keep the U.S. from realizing goals articulated by the civil rights movement and other reform efforts," Lee said.

"I am looking forward to discussing what happened after the civil rights movement was considered over. What happened to progressive racial politics during the Reagan, Bush and Clinton years, and what should be the quality and scope of our civic engagement during the Obama years?"

Another panel discussion will talk about "Beyond the Movement: Local and Global Perspectives."

The keynote speaker for the symposium will be Peniel Joseph, a history professor from Tufts University. Joseph is also the premier scholar in the country in the area of black power. He will give a lecture on "Dark Days, Bright Nights: From Black Power to Barack Obama."

For those involved with organizing and participating in the event, most look forward to what students and the community will learn from the discussions on the civil rights movement and what is still happening even after the movement is declared over.

"Ultimately, I hope that students gain an appreciation for how much freedom costs to achieve and to maintain, for African Americans and for all people," Lee said. "For those who are unable to see their story in what has been told as a largely African-American story, perhaps this event will inspire them to see and learn otherwise."

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools